I’m A Celeb: Ant and Dec slammed by Katie Price, here's why

The 44-year-old glamour model has slammed the hosts of the ITV jungle show – Ant and Dec – over a joke they recently made about a severe mental health issue. Not only Katie Price, but they also get into trouble with the founder of the charity PTSD UK – Jacqui Suttie.

The joke

The adored presenting duo is famous for their light-hearted bantering exchanges, which usually causes the cast of the show to laugh hysterically. However, their recent joke didn’t really land that well. During the show, Ant and Dec joked about suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder – PTSD after hearing their track Let's Get Ready to Rumble.

The two shuddered as their old song began to play when Dec said, ‘Flashback,’ and Ant ended up adding, ‘PTSD.’ The song was played after the pair jokingly said:

After a week without food, Owen's tummy has said 'let's get ready to rumble.’

PTSD is a mental health condition that’s triggered by experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event. Mayoclinic confirms its symptoms include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety.

Katie supports charity

PTSD UK founder Jacqui acknowledged that the hosts’ comments were made in jest but also highlighted that such jokes – even in a jest – are ‘incredibly damaging.’ She said:

Using PTSD as a punchline in a joke not only further stigmatises the reality of the condition, but it also incorrectly and unhelpfully desensitises people to the debilitating symptoms that can lead to family problems, unemployment, physical health issues, self-harm, homelessness, alcohol and drug addiction, and ultimately suicide.

Jokes like this, using PTSD as part of the gag is only one in a long line of examples where people are using PTSD in a really disrespectful way – but feel that as the leaders of the mental health campaign ‘Britain Get Talking’, you should be setting an example and so feel that ITV has a duty of care to its viewers which includes comments like this which are not only unnecessary, but can also be incredibly damaging to those affected by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Katie was diagnosed with PTSD in 2018. After the joke, she shared the PTSD UK post on her story with clapping emojis. According to BirminghamLive, she had previously said:

I hit severe depression a couple of years ago, depression on top of PTSD, I was suicidal, didn’t want to be here. I tried to kill myself.

Sources Used

Mayoclinic.org: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

BirminghamLive: Ant and Dec in hot water with Katie Price over ITV I'm A Celebrity joke